Reliance Jio consortium launches multi-nation cable system

Mumbai: An 8,100-km, 100 GBPS fibre optic communications cable system linking East Asia and West Asia, with a landing at Chennai, has been launched by a global consortium with Reliance Jio as a key member. It can also connect with other systems for a global reach.

“Linking Malaysia and Singapore with Oman and the UAE, with branches to India and Sri Lanka, the cable provides ample diversity to South East Asia, India, Middle East and European routes,” the consortium said in a statement.

In addition to Reliance Jio, the partners in the Bay of Bengal Gateway, as the cable network is called, include: Dialog Axiata, Etisalat, Omantel, Telecom Malaysia, and Vodafone. The Indian company Reliance Jio has invested in the system as part of its broadband plans.

“This brings key global content hubs closer to our customers, delivering much richer experience as an important part of driving India’s broadband adoption and enabling consumers to shift away from the current high-cost low value propositions,” Jio president Mathew Oommen said.

The Indian company owns and operates the strategically important undersea cable landing facility in Chennai, providing high-speed, high-capacity, low latency route to connect the subcontinent with the rest of the world.

The Bay of Bengal Gateway has deployed the latest submarine cable transmission technology with an initial capacity of 9 terabits per second and a design capacity that can take it up to as much as 55 terabits per second, the consortium said.

The network can also be used to interconnect with existing land and undersea cables at Oman and the UAE for Europe, Middle East and Africa — and similarly at Malaysia and Singapore for Far East Asia, all the way to the US.

It also promises enhanced reliability as the marine route design is such that it avoids the busy and crowded Malacca Straits and other cable-cut prone areas with diverse terrestrial connection directly to two gateways in Singapore, the consortium said.

Among those who can benefit from the system are carriers seeking cost-effective ways for global connectivity, large corporates with high bandwidth requirements in the region such as financial institutions and IT providers, as also others seeking route-diversity for reliability.